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Knicks need ‘Big Game’ Brunson for playoffs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Looking at the Knicks, a team facing a series of daunting tasks against the Cavaliers, the best reason to feel optimistic about a playoff upset is the same reason their season was such a pleasant surprise.Jalen Brunson.Two years ago, Tom Thibodeau trotted out Elfrid Payton as the starting point guard. The Knicks, as you might recall, were outmatched over five games by the Hawks. The coach still makes the excuse that the series changed because of a loose ball near the end of Game 2, which is overlooking Payton’s deterioration and the duds from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.But now the Knicks have Brunson, the same player who a year ago outplayed Donovan Mitchell in a first-round series between the Mavs and Jazz.“He’s always played his best in big games,” Thibodeau said. “We all knew that. That’s just who he is. He’s gotten better every year. And his game translates. He can think on his feet.”New York’s need for ‘Big Game̵...

Cambridge church’s steeple is removed after 6-alarm fire on Easter, Faith Lutheran raises money to rebuild

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

The steeple of the Cambridge church that went up in flames on Easter was removed on Tuesday, as “heartbroken” members of Faith Lutheran Church started raising money to rebuild the destroyed church.Fire officials had yet to release a cause of the raging 6-alarm fire as of Tuesday afternoon, while workers started taking off the steeple from 311 Broadway in Cambridge. Heavy flames had been shooting out of the steeple on Easter Sunday, and safety officials had been concerned about the steeple collapsing.The church had a service on Sunday morning, hours before the building was engulfed in heavy fire and smoke in the late afternoon into the evening.“We are heartbroken at the loss of this beautiful 114-year-old structure, a unique landmark in the Port neighborhood of Cambridge,” said Kristin Griffin, who organized a GoFundMe recovery fund for the church.Faith Lutheran Church hopes to restore this property at 311 Broadway, she added.“We are hoping for an Easter...

New York latest state to stockpile abortion-inducing pills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York joined other Democratic-led states Tuesday in stockpiling abortion pills in response to a Texas court ruling that could limit access to the commonly used drug.At the governor’s direction, the state Department of Health will begin purchasing 150,000 doses of misoprostol, one of two commonly used abortion-inducing drugs, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced.“This isn’t just an attack on abortion, this is an attack on democracy,” the Democratic governor said, adding that she wouldn’t let “one extremist judge turn back the clock” on reproductive care.New Yorkers will continue to have access to medication abortion “no matter what,” she said. If the drug is taken off the market, Hochul said the state will provide $20 million to providers in order to bolster access to other methods of care.Hochul is the latest Democratic governor to announce the stockpiling of abortion medication after two federal judges issu...

Yankees Notebook: Carlos Rodon throwing but delayed by back tightness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Carlos Rodon recently experienced some back stiffness while recovering from a left forearm strain suffered early in spring training, but Aaron Boone said the southpaw threw on Tuesday and is scheduled for a Wednesday bullpen.If that goes well, Rodon will throw a live BP session on Friday. While Rodon’s forearm has felt fine, Boone said that an end-of-April return now “seems a little aggressive” for the pitcher.“We’re certainly not gonna rush it just to do it,” Boone said. “We want to make sure he’s in a good spot and built [up] properly.”Rodon, the Yankees’ most significant addition of the offseason, has dealt with injuries in the past, including a similar forearm issue that he pitched through with San Francisco last May. Still, the Yankees felt comfortable giving him a six-year, $162 million contract in December.That’s partly because Rodon is coming off two straight All-Star seasons with the White Sox and Giants. He ...

Why did UMass buy 15,000 abortion pills?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Why is UMass buying 15,000 doses of the abortion pill mifepristone?Because they quickly can, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey.The $675,000 purchase is in response to a Texas-based judge’s decision to ban access to the drug considered the nation’s most commonly used method of abortion. The purchase also circumvents the order of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that has states all across the country scrambling.“UMass already had all necessary certifications to purchase mifepristone and currently provides medication abortion through their university health services,” the spokesperson said. “They were willing and able to jump into action quickly when we made the request.”Last Friday, in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a religious liberty group, Kacsmaryk issued a nationwide ban on the FDA-approved drug which is scheduled to go into effect this Friday, pending other legal filings which may stay or delay the ban.According to his ruling, Kacsmaryk felt plaint...

Idaho jurors see graphic photos of slain kids in mom’s trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

By REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press)BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Jurors in the triple murder trial of a woman accused in the deaths of her two children and a romantic rival were shown gruesome photographs of the slain children Tuesday afternoon, as the grandfather of one of the kids sobbed in the back of the courtroom.Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his big sister Tylee Ryan were last seen in September of 2019, sparking a nationwide search. The search ended in tragedy the following year when their bodies were found buried in an eastern Idaho yard. Lori Vallow Daybell and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, are both charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee, the latter of whom was last seen shortly before her 17th birthday in 2019. The children were buried on Chad Daybell’s property. Prosecutors also charged the couple in connection with the October 2019 death of Chad Daybell’s late wife, Ta...

Call the bots! NYPD rolls out robot police dog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

NEW YORK — New York City officials unveiled three new high-tech policing devices Tuesday, including a robotic dog that critics called creepy when it first joined the police pack 2 1/2 years ago.The new devices, which also include a GPS tracker for stolen cars and a cone-shaped security robot, will be rolled out in a manner that is “transparent, consistent and always done in close collaboration with the people we serve,” said police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, who joined Mayor Eric Adams and other officials at a Times Square press conference where the security robot and the mechanical canine nicknamed Digidog were displayed.“Digidog is out of the pound,” said Adams, a Democrat and former police officer. “Digidog is now part of the toolkit that we are using.”The city’s first robot police dog was leased in 2020 by Adams’ predecessor, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, but the city’s contract for the device was cut short after critics de...

Orioles’ Cole Irvin explains origins of team’s ‘homer hose’ celebration: ‘It’s all in good fun’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Ryan Mountcastle returned to the Orioles’ dugout after a two-run home run Monday and realized he was once again responsible for debuting a water-themed celebration.His double Wednesday against the Texas Rangers marked the first time Baltimore’s sprinkler-then-spray method of commemorating a two-base hit went into effect. After his blast against the Oakland Athletics, Mountcastle saw teammates at the end of the dugout prepping what has been dubbed the “homer hose,” a funnel connected to a tube that one player pours a bottle of water into, with the Oriole on the other end drinking it.“I’m just the inaugural celebration guy,” Mountcastle said. “We don’t have a triple one yet. I probably won’t be the first for that one.”The team’s obsession with water stems from its spring training talent show, when Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Terrin Vavra, Kyle Stowers and Colton Cowser put on what Rutschman referred to as a...

Talking boxing with Kent Greene, the man who once TKO’d a young fighter named Cassius Clay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Rick Kogan | Chicago TribuneThe old boxer answers the door of his south suburban home with a smile and a firm handshake and he moves across his living room and sits in a chair and tells stories about when he was young and strong and beating the daylights out of people.“I was a good boxer,” Kent Greene says. “There was this one fight in 1958 when I won the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. Fought a guy named Loomis Oglesby. He was from Kansas City. I won by decision. Oglesby was a soldier who was later killed in Vietnam.”Greene will be turning 84 years old in a couple of months but the names from his past come to him with clarity, his memory as fit as he is, looking maybe 20 years younger than the calendar indicates.Of all the names he recalls, there are two most notable: Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali.“When we first met I was 17 and a half and he was 16,” says Greene. “We fought at the old Chicago Stadium in the quarterfinals of the Golden Gloves. We had no idea what tha...

Bahamas cruise capacity to swell with Nassau revamp, new Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival destinations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Richard Tribou | (TNS) Orlando SentinelThe Bahamas have lined up the capacity to take in thousands of more cruise passengers in the coming years with the planned development of private destinations for Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean as well as a soon-to-open overhaul of the port of Nassau.The latest cruise line approval came last month as the government gave the OK for Royal Caribbean to develop a 17-acre portion of Paradise Island in Nassau, already the busiest cruise port destination in the world.Called The Royal Beach Club at Paradise Island, it will be on the western edge of the strip of land that runs alongside the waterway through which ships bring more than 3.5 million passengers a year. Plans are for it to open in 2025.The new venture will offer private cabanas, pools, beach access and Bahamian-styled barbecue with local music and artists on site.The project is a public-private partnership under which Bahamians are invited to own up to 49% of the beach club’s equity, t...